George Goode lost a tooth after taking an elbow in the second half. He still smiled. Nothing could go wrong in his return to Louisville.
Goode, who played three seasons at Louisville before transferring to pursue a graduate degree, had 17 points and 12 rebounds for Fairleigh Dickinson in an 80-58 loss to the fifth-ranked Cardinals on Saturday.
''I just loved it,'' Goode said. ''I enjoyed every minute of it. I would never change it for the world. I was happy to be back.''
Melquan Bolding added 23 points for the Knights (1-8).
Goode, a role player at Louisville who received a degree in communications before leaving for the Knights, got a loud ovation during pregame and shook coach Rick Pitino's hand after being introduced.
''It felt great to be back. The fans really showed a lot of love,'' Goode said. ''My team came out and played as hard as we could. It felt good.''
Goode also scored the game's first points with a dunk, but FDU's lead would be short-lived.
Siva answered with two layups and Louisville never trailed again.
''George had some intricacies in their offense that he was able to exploit so it was good,'' FDU coach Greg Vetrone said. ''He played tremendous tonight. The last three games he's really got his feet on the ground. He's had three games of double-doubles. I think he could be an all-conference player for us, without question.''
Goode's putback dunk cut Louisville's lead to 27-18 when no one blocked out their former teammate. Gorgui Dieng grabbed an offensive rebound after the timeout and scored to spark a 10-0 run that made the margin 19 points with 2:39 left in the first half.
FDU, which has lost 19 of its last 20 on the road and was picked to finish last in the Northeast Conference, never came closer than 16 the rest of the way.
Goode took an elbow from Zach Price late in the second half and pulled out his mouth guard with the tooth still attached.
''It was fake anyway,'' Goode said.
Dieng had 14 points and 12 rebounds, Kyle Kuric added 18 points and Peyton Siva had 16 for Louisville, which is in the midst of a 10-game homestand that will get a lot tougher when the Cardinals host No. 21 Memphis next Saturday after finishing final exams this coming week.
The Cardinals' upcoming schedule also features meetings with No. 18 Georgetown on Dec. 28 and top-ranked Kentucky on Dec. 31.
Louisville has already had seven different players sit out games this season with Saturday's absence of reserve guard Russ Smith (neck), but the Cardinals have relied on defense to remain undefeated.
''They got great guard play tonight. They're active defensively. We've never seen defense like that so far this year. They really defend and rebound,'' Vetrone said. ''It's great motivation for our team. We go 10 for 21 from the free throw line. So, you know, you make six or seven of those and you're under double figures to the No. (5) team in the country on their floor. That's what coaches say. Realistically, as a coach: Coach Pitino is my friend. I love him and I say thanks for not blowing me out by 40 points.''
